8/15 Season Three, Episode 15: The Pharoah’s Engineer-Scarecrow and Mrs King

The next day and we find Billy walking out of his office with Lee and Francine behind him, leading them through the bullpen. Think I can get a clear image of the three of them? ugh.. nope.Billy: With Durran in town, I’m bumping this up to an Alpha Two alert, effective immediately.[Alpha two?! Love this lingo ]Lee: You think he’s connected to that van?[lol Lee! this is smk.. If you happened to hear about Durran then yep, it’s Durran! lol..]Billy: And the G-S gas. He’s planning a hit, probably in DC, but where?[whooo ask T.P! he’ll know! ]Francine: I sent a fax to Seaforth alarms this morning.[whahahahaaha!!!! Is it just me or is this flippin hilarious???!!!! It was yesterday morning that Francine in her blue/purple print dress (with bib) said she would get on to the urgent job of finding out who has Seaforth alarms!!! We think Lee was naughty to wait till after his 1 pm appointment to chase up the poison gas/mercenary thingie?? Francine waited a whole day and night! whahahaah!!]Billy: And?Francine: Well, good news and bad. They say it looks like their system, but the guy I spoke with said he installed nearly two hundred similar systems here in DC.Lee: Two hundred?!Francine: Yeah.Lee: He couldn’t be more specific?Francine: He’s trying to make a match of it now.
[Hope he gets right on it! – unlike Lee and Francine ]Billy: Alright, stay on top of it. Right now, Code Pyramid is our best bet.[Iwsod raises her hand – whoo whooo! Mr Billy sir??!!.. Why is Code Pyramid our best bet?! What is a Code Pyramid? Did you hear something we didn’t? Find a clue we didn’t know about? Oh I know.. you get a fortune cookie hinting to check Code Pyramid?!
Just where the heck does this Code Pyramid suddenly sprout from? Oh! My! Gosh! this plot is beyond lame so far.. we have coincidences and randoms galore.. and now it seems we have a random completely unexplained clue from Billy to put this whole case together 😉 Worst of all? Kj’s directing.. and I really want to love KJ’s episode because she rocks! but.. I gotta say.. this plot is lamest of the lame so far. oh well.. may as well have fun with it!]…I want you to pull every file that you think might give us a clue…[but Billy, we don’t need clues to solve this one, the case will just randomly be solved all by itself if we hang around long enough]…Start cross-referencing with State, Interpol, NSA — somebody’s got to know something about this.[rofl yes someone has to know something about it, or they’ll have no clues! Heaven forbid they have to you know, find out something for themselves! I’m starting to feel like I’m watching Get Smart! With this plot, how can the show be taken seriously at all??!! ]Lee: Yeah.Billy: Progress reports at noon.Lee: Alright.[No goofing off today you two!]
Lee and Francine solemnly walk away.. and Billy is left with a concerned intense look. whoooo..My guess? Billy is wondering how quickly he can get hold of some more fortune cookies.. ahem..

What did you think of Francine’s outfit? I thought it was actually quite understated.. very pretty.. funny to see Francine wearing pink when Amanda was wearing pink yesterday..
and why is Lee dressed so informally? He know something we don’t?

Moving on we see an insurance corporate headquarters..guess it’s time to check in with the baddies.Leo: I’m asking for a timetable, that’s all.Durran: We finish when we finish, Leo. You know, it’s like panning for gold. Who knows when you’re gonna find the nugget.Yet again, we are shooting scenes through trees and in low light. the baddies are looking for nuggets.. I’m looking for the baddies! Hard to make out!Leo: Durran, you haven’t been able to find it yet.Durran: That’s my problem… [Yes that and your leather blazer.. that is a serious problem Durran!] …You just sit still and shut up.[whoooo there seems to be a little power play going on here between these two.. which one is the boss??!!!]Leo: Now you listen to me. They can track those names through my policy lists. I’m the one who’s exposed.[rofl. right when Leo says he’s exposed we see the opposite! He’s not exposed at all.. He’s hiding in the dark!]Durran: Right up to your little eyeballs, pal. You sold your soul, Leo — for a lot of money. Now you’ve got to learn to live with the devil.[well this is creepy.. Laura Palmer’s dad saying the equivalent of working with him is learning to live with the devil! and yes.. still in the dark.. grrrr.. this is really bugging me.. I really want to like this episode… and am still hopefully it will improve.. but the lighting and lack of focus is bugging the daylights out of me!]Leo: Not me. But sometimes I think you might enjoy it. Maybe you never had a soul. [do we really care?! Me nooo]Durran: Maybe you’re right… [He gave it to Bob in Twin Peaks!!!! GAH!!!!!!! Oh wait.. no wrong show.. sorry..]…You just remember one thing, little buddy….…The people you work for don’t put escape clauses in their contracts.

Well.. Durran has reduced Leo to a little child.. and totally put him in his place. Leo (the cowardly lion) looks pretty beaten. Will he go tell TP about it?! whahahahahaa..
Maybe he’ll make a deal with the agency and double cross these people he works for.. whoever they are.. who knows.. Well I’m guessing it’s pretty obvious I have no idea what’s ahead for these baddies! but I’m guessing it has something to do with Pyramids and Pharaohs.. ohhh how good it feels to spell that word correctly whahahahaa..

Okay guys.. I’m going to pause here for now.. as is always the case – I’m looking forward to hearing the thoughts of anyone who is reading and would like to share their thoughts – looking forward to discussing this with you all!

Lol, iwsod – I had stopped at the picture of Billy with his concerned intense look after Lee and Francine had walked away, thinking that his outfit looks really brown. All brown is not a good look – or maybe it’s just the tie – I dunno. I hadn’t even noticed Lee or Francine’s outfits. Very understated!

So when did American Pharoah race? Could there be some allusion to the horse in this episode? Was this pyramid that we keep hearing about an “American Pyramid’?
Still working those mental gymnastics to make things in the SMK world alright… Hey, I am trying 😉

oops, American Pharoah raced just a few years ago. hat won’t work. Maybe the owner of the horse was a SMK fan and loved this episode??? Maybe?
But, I am afraid it leaves the producers with no alibi. I think I may jump on Iwsod’s conspiracy theory wagon.

Lola Learjet! I am so behind on posts, just caught your Georgette Heyer reference. First thing that flashed across my mind was the book even though I’ve been to Faro, Portugal. Am a hopeless romantic 🙂 Since I can’t spell worth a bean, I didn’t catch the misspelling ever till iwsod mentioned it- an obvious liability as a teacher laughs guiltily and runs off to the rabbit hole, giggling coz I’m happily retired and have spellcheck

Hey L&A,
Hopefully happycamper can return at some point to respond to you.

I can’t speak for happycamper, but I would interpret happy camper’s comment as a joke (please! correct me if I’m wrong happycamper!)

Your comment was wondering if Americans had a different spelling – which does happen sometimes so that’s a great question! You weren’t saying Americans can’t spell at all.. at least that’s not how I interpreted your words.. and I think happy camper responded with a joke that with the horse there is no such excuse it was the wrong spelling.

When I first started walking through this ep I was excited to learn about American Pharoah (the horse!) and how it’s name was not spelled correctly. I wondered if the title of this episode was spelling Pharaoh wrongly because of the horse.. I wondered if it was an intentional reference to the race horse lol… (grasping at straws) but.. then I realised the horse wasn’t around yet.. and drat.. that blew that one out of the water.. 😉 I didn’t include it in a post, so I’m really glad you raised the whole American Pharoah’s name was spelled incorrectly thing – there are many international readers who stop by.. and for lots of readers English is not their first language so they will be very happy to read about this too!

LOL this is much better/nicer than the idea I have floating around in the back of my mind.. I see conspiracy!!!

If you finally got to direct a tv episode and then, it’s title was spelled wrongly -foreverrrrrr- how would you feel????!!! I’d be sooo mad!!! Can you imagine what KJ would have felt?
And yet.. she soldiered on and was a professional.. 🙂 now I think about it, she shared some fab traits with the Amanda King character in that respect maybe..

I’m adding ‘Pharoah not Pharaoh’ in the title to the passive aggressive sabotage list..

Yes, I was joking. I hope nobody really thought I was serious (full disclosure: I’m American). But then . . . it does seem fishy, doesn’t it? Here are two very public, very permanent errors made misspelling this same word. That Americans can’t spell (or at least can’t spell this word) is the logical conclusion.

Like aluminium vs aluminum? Color and colour etc? Viva la difference. But I don’t think Pharoah and Pharaoh are a pert of that. It was just a good thing the horse was a winner. Not sure how to explain away the SMK screw up. I am working on it though 😉

Ah TP said: “something called pyramid’s been mentioned — a code name, I suppose.”
now that’s ambiguous.. but billy talks about it like it’s confirmed to be a code name.. but.. there’s more to come and I can’t discuss it yet!

But, thanks for clarifying where I missed it happy camper.. I was looking through all Rupert’s dialogue.

I can’t believe they actually had TP know about ‘pyramid’ aie.. I thought it was lame T.P would know Durran is in town.. that he also knows there’s talk of pyramid or something? that’s just too much for me..

I agree, bring back Rupert. I don’t like that Duran guy and Leo is so cowardly he makes me sick.
I do like Francine’s look here, and I like the gray jacket on Lee. Maybe he was so tired he couldn’t get the whole suit and tie thing going this morning. But he sure doesn’t look as professional and I wonder what I think about that after my musings in the comment for the last post.

Hey, I think you’re on to something KC.. this was KJ’s big moment to prove herself.. me thinks she had some ‘opponents’ on the smk team who were sabotaging her best efforts by ensuring the plot doesn’t make sense.. yeah.. I’ll go with that.. it’s not KJ’s fault 😉

KJ rocks!! Sorry KJ, not a fan of this ep so far.. but.. I still think you rock!! 🙂

Hey KC, have I misunderstood what you meant? I was thinking you meant what you wrote and did not intend it as a joke, but.. I do hope that my nark over the plot and issues with this episode are not too difficult for a KJ fan to read. I love her too.. but I can love her and still have issues with this episode..but I also want to be respectful toward those who may not agree with me..
I’m all for those who love this ep to share the bright side here..

I suspect KJ was coping by keeping very busy… it’s a common strategy for someone who’s very driven.. Aaaah I’ll stop there.. I know it’s bad form to gossip and try and get into someone’s head and I do want to be respectful of KJ – I really admire what she achieved and how she conducted herself 🙂

Hmmm. Just my unsubstantiated theory — I think there were plenty of stinker scripts, but when KJ was around (because of her production company), she was able to force some rewrites. Because she wasn’t around for PFK and just returned for PE and had the extra stress of directing, there wasn’t the time for her to get the changes made.

You know what Cindy.. I fleetingly had that thought myself when walking through PFK> I think you are on to something!!
and in this ep? She had too many other responsibilities and so wasn’t able to pick it up (KJ is amazing.. but.. not superhuman!).

The script editor is forever out playing goofy golf.

I’m still hoping to see Dotty in this ep.. and how KJ directs it.. haaaaa.. we know BG had err ‘issues’ with KJ.. i.e. I haven’t finished this ep and am not sure what scenes are left.. got my fingers crossed we see Dotty!

Francine may have been very sluggish about getting on with her “urgent” work but I’ll forgive her because she looks so much better sans bib. She looks lovely, esp her hair.
A bit of digging revealed that the writer of this episode only wrote one SMK episode (unlike the writer of PFK who wrote multiple episodes) – maybe this explained by the rather strange plot. And the rather weird characterisation of TP. Did someone pop in the word “potpourri” to (superficially!) link the episodes???
The baddies are boring. Not menacing or funny. Bring back Rupert!!

I just checked the script – Rupert did have a tilt at trying to hit on Amanda. Creeeeepy. I like the Rupert we got to see in the filmed version.
Also, Lee went to see an informant called Lucian (sort of an Augie character Lee pays for info). So the re-introduction of the TP character was obviously in a re-write.
And… Lee mentions that the visits to Birchwood are an Agency activity, e.g. like each agent gets a visiting schedule and has to drop into the place to mingle with the retirees as part of their agency duties. However, Lee does talk of the visits having a personal impact on him and regretting that he will have to limit his visit today to just 10 minutes so he can keep working on the case. The filmed version that suggests, albeit not overtly, that going to Birchwood is something Lee does because he wants to, because he finds it personally fulfilling, is much more satisfying.
Perhaps KJ softened the jarring aspects of this script to make the episode more palatable??

Hi guys.. just popped by to say yep – this got published pretty quickly after the last post.. but – I won’t publish the next one now for a few days so no rush.. I’m definitely not picking up the pace here.. JWWM is still at a snail’s pace 🙂
Hope you are all well and have a great day!

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